When fear makes time weigh heavy and inner lives – behind the mask – become hornets’ nests, buzzing us to distraction; when pleading prayers go apparently unanswered and the stars are dimmed and silent … then, perhaps, it is time to hear the ‘four questions’ of the wise elders:

when did you stop dancing?

when did you stop singing?

when did you stop being enchanted by stories?

when did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence?

And sometimes the questions, and even small attempts at answering them, cause us to forget the mask, and barely even notice that the hornets have stopped buzzing, and re-membering we begin – as we’ve done so many times before – to live again.